Burglar Secrets they don't want you to know

If you were locked out of your house, would you still be able to get in? Then so could a burglar.

One out of 10 homes will be burglarized this year, according to the National Crime Prevention Council, and many of the burglars are professionals, so you can never be too safe.

However, many intruders will spend no longer than 60 seconds trying to break into a home, so good locks and good neighbors who watch out for each other – can be big deterrents to burglars, according to the council. That’s what neighborhood watches are all about.

Here are some simple safety tips to help keep your home and family protected:

• Never hide a key outside. Instead, give a spare key to a trusting neighbor.
• 80 percent of break-ins are through a door. Doors visible to the street and neighbors are much safer.
• Get new locks installed when you move into a new house. Dead bolts are best. They are not vulnerable to being jimmied. Make sure they have at least a 1-inch draw into the door jam.
• Make sure your door has a wide-angle peephole – if not, have one installed.
• Solid core and metal doors are the hardest to break into.
• Sliding doors can be easy prey for burglars. Place a broomstick on the track behind the sliding door.
• Pins are a safe way to secure doors and windows. They can be purchased at almost any hardware store. This does require a little work on your part though, to drill hoels where the pins are placed when the window or door is secured. A side benefit of using pins is that you can set a window open an inch or two, for air flow ,and still use the pins to secure it.
• Don’t leave a ladder, or anything that helps provide access to a roof or second story window outside your home.
• Keep outside lights on at night, or have lights that come on when a motion sensor is tripped.
  When staying away from home, don’t leave lights on all day and night. This signals an empty home. Having light timers installed can be a good way to scare burglars off. You can buy simple electrical timers at your hardware store, and install them yourself.
• When going on a vacation, don’t let mail pile up. Ask a friend or neighbor to pick it up for you or, bet yet, ask the post office to hold mail until you return. Don’t forget your daily or weekly paper delivery, and any other deliveries, like milk, etc.
• Don’t leave answering machine messages indicating that you will not be home.
• Having your yard and driveway kept up while you are gone is also a good way to pretend you are home.

If you get home and things look suspicious (torn screen, door open etc.) Do not enter your home. Call the police from a neighbor’s house.
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Lighting Deters Burglars while Improving Property's Looks

Many experts agree that a few lights strategically placed could be your pass to protection when it comes to burglary.

"Using a light plan that is very strategic, not one that floods areas with light, you can achieve the two benefits of safety and security, as well as creating an aesthetically pleasing environment," said Denise Champagne of Osram Sylvania/Siemens.

That means your house can both look great -- and deter thieves -- with some simple low-tech, low cost solutions. Place pathway lights on the edges of your walkway. Use up-lights around shrubbery or jungle gyms to highlight landscape and minimize hiding places. Position a floodlight or two toward your house. It'll give your home a warm glow while deterring undesirables from your home's perimeter. Police say lights with motion detectors are another great deterrent, especially when homeowners are away.

"Hopefully a neighbor would see a light turn on, look out the window and see a suspicious person in the driveway and in turn call the police," said Sgt. George Marshall of the New Rochelle, N.Y., Police Department. "In addition, a burglar might turn away because of the light. Dark is a burglar's best friend."

Low-voltage lights and energy-efficient fluorescents and halogens may be the wallet's best friend.

"There have been so many advancements in lighting technologies in recent years that consumers can achieve good lighting plans and not sacrifice energy efficiency and the cost of running those bulbs," Champagne said.

Law enforcement experts agree that "running those bulbs" with timers can go a long way in deterring break-ins while you're away. With today's energy efficient light bulbs, you don't have to burn a hole in your pocket while lighting the outside.

Neighborhood Watch Programs increase Home Safety

Are you a participant in your neighborhood watch group, where neighbors and citizens act as the eyes and ears of the police or sheriff’s office?

“As a law enforcement community, we’re starting to realize we can only be effective to a certain point without the help of the community,” said Sgt. Bill Norman, who coordinates a local sheriff’s neighborhood watch programs.

When the public learns what it can do to protect itself from crime and participates, Norman said, “the results are far beyond what law enforcement can do by itself.”

If you don’t already have a neighborhood watch system, discuss the program with the local police or sheriff’s office. You can also reduce crime even more by installing better lighting around the outside of your home.

To be effective, a neighborhood watch program needs participants. Solicit help from neighbors, and find a dedicated group within the watch program to patrol the neighborhood at various times or the day and night.

“With people walking the neighborhood and making their presence known, you just don’t see it anymore,” Norman said of criminal activity. The single biggest problem now is youth loitering.

Norman went on to say that neighborhood watches don’t need people patrolling neighborhoods to be successful. Instead, they can learn from the police or sheriff’s office how to look for suspicious activity they might see in normal routines and when to call the local authorities.

Additionally, you can learn to inspect their own homes and make them a less inviting target for crime by improving lighting, trimming shrubs and installing better locks or hardware for doors and windows. There are also other ways to secure your home and yard.

Even if local authorities can’t act on problems right away, bringing it to their attention can lead to solutions later.

Once you have established a core group, you can apply to local authorities for signage to place in your neighborhood. Thieves and burglars go where the prey is an easy target, so advertise that you have a watch program, and watch the bad guys go somewhere else!

And of course, one way to keep the burgalrs at bay is to install a monitored home security system.

Save money on home owner insurance

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